


Worlds Collide

by torigates



Category: Chuck (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 11:58:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coda to <i>Chuck vs Santa Claus</i>, Chuck deals with the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worlds Collide

Chuck was exhausted.

Not only had he spent the entire day as a hostage, but it turned out the person holding him hostage was not just some petty thief but actually a Fulcrum agent. The stress of thinking he’d never see Ellie or any of his friends again, in addition to seeing his pretend girlfriend murder someone—well. Chuck was exhausted.

“I’m glad everything turned out okay,” Ellie said when they eventually made it home that night.

“Yeah, me too,” Chuck said. “Listen, Ellie, I’m really tired, so I think I’m just going to turn in, all right?”

“Of course, Chuck,” she said smiling and gave him a hug. “Get some rest, you really earned it, keeping your cool like that.”

“Thanks, Ellie.”

Chuck closed the door to his bedroom, and slowly looked around. Everything was exactly as he had left it earlier that morning, but somehow everything seemed so different. He didn’t know what to think or feel about what he had seen Sarah do. Part of him knew that Sarah was a highly trained, lethal CIA agent, whose job it was to protect him (and by him he meant the Intersect) at all costs. The other part of him was still Chuck Bartowski, video game obsessed, and in charge of the Nerd Herd. That part of him would never be okay with killing.

It was so hard living this double life, and every time he fooled himself into thinking that he and Sarah were in this together, something like this would happen to remind him that they were very different people.

Chuck thought that the day’s events would keep him up all night tossing and turning, but he must have been more tired than he realised, because the next thing he knew it was two am and he was jolted awake by the sound of someone breaking into his bedroom.

“Morgan?” he asked somewhat groggily.

“No, it’s me,” a voice whispered.

“Sarah?” he asked, even more confused. Sarah was standing in his doorway, with her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, wearing sweatpants and a light sweater. “What are you doing here?”

She came all the way into his room and sat on the edge of his bed. “I wanted to check up on you,” she said.

“At two in the morning?” he asked, still not fully understanding what she was doing there.

She didn’t answer, just stared at him. “All right,” he said when it became clear that she wasn’t going to offer him any other explanation. “Get in.” He pulled back the blankets so she could join him.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s the middle of the night, Sarah. I’m exhausted and I want to sleep. If you’re going to be here, you might as well get some rest too.” She hesitated. “Don’t worry, we can say it’s just for our cover.

This seemed to convince her. Sarah slipped off her shoes, and slid into the empty side of his bed. She didn’t say anything.

Chuck waited for a few moments, wondering if she was going to explain why she had showed up in his bedroom in the middle of the night, but she continued to lie on her back, staring at the ceiling.

Chuck yawned. He really was exhausted, and if Sarah wasn’t going to talk, then he was going to sleep. He turned away from her and curled onto his side.

Before he could drift off into sleep again, he felt Sarah shift somewhere behind him. She turned on her side so that she was curled up around his back, her knees tucked behind his own. After a moment she put her arm around his waist.

Neither of them spoke.

“I saw you,” Chuck whispered into the darkness, not really sure if Sarah was even awake.

He felt her tense up behind him. “What?” she asked.

“I saw you kill that Fulcrum agent. Why’d you do it, Sarah?”

He felt the arm around his waist tighten a fraction. “He knew your secret, Chuck. He said Fulcrum wouldn’t stop until they rescued him. I couldn’t risk your identity. Your safety.”

Chuck didn’t know what to say. “Part of me is never going to be okay with killing,” he said eventually. Sarah tensed up slightly behind him. She didn’t say anything. “The other part,” he continued, “Knows that this is what your life is like. I trust you Sarah.”

He felt her press her forehead into his back. Chuck knew next to nothing about Sarah’s past, what she had done, who she was. Despite the mystery surrounding her identity, Chuck had never felt safer with another person. He knew she would do whatever it took to keep him safe and with his family for as long as possible.

Chuck felt like his entire life was quickly being separated into two completely different realities: his real life and his spy life. As much as he wanted to keep those two lives apart for as long as possible, it was getting harder and harder to know where exactly Sarah fit in. She was part of his spy life, certainly, but his feelings for her had always belonged more to his real life. Having Sarah here in his bedroom, spooned behind him, Chuck couldn’t help but wonder if Sarah was having the same problems, if maybe he was finally sharing a moment of her real life.

“I trust you, Sarah,” he repeated.

She didn’t reply, and Chuck didn’t turn around. The two of them lay silently together in his bed, her arm wrapped tightly around his waist.

Chuck couldn’t remember dropping off into sleep, but he must of at some point, because he awoke the next morning alone in his bed, unsure for a moment if Sarah had really been there, of if he had dreamed the whole thing.

“Morning, Chuck,” Devon said when he stumbled out of the bathroom, late again for work.

“Morning, Awesome,” he replied.

“I saw your lady friend sneaking out of here early this morning,” he said with a wink, punching Chuck in the arm.

“You saw Sarah?” Chuck asked. “When?”

“She was leaving here, when just before I left for my morning run,” Devon told him, and poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Right…” Chuck said, trailing off.

“Don’t be embarrassed!” Devon admonished him. “I’m proud of you.” He clapped his hand on Chuck’s shoulder.

Chuck gave Devon a shaky smile. “Well, I’ve got to get to work,” he said. “Tell Ellie I’ll see her tonight.”

“Will do,” Devon said.

When he saw Sarah in the castle later that day, she seemed a little hesitant to meet his eye. He smiled at her, but didn’t say anything about the previous night. Maybe Sarah wanted to keep her worlds separate for as long as possible too. Chuck didn’t know how long they could last. 


End file.
